On this page is the creative nonfiction reading list that I use with my students at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I teach prose in the low-residency MFA in Writing Program. The photo, above, is the VCFA campus, in Montpelier. For more information about VCFA, visit www.vermontcollege.edu.

Reading List

SUE WILLIAM SILVERMAN'S CONTEMPORARY CREATIVE NONFICTION READING LIST

Illness, Accident, Grief, Addiction

Isabel Allende, PaulaA. Manette Ansay, Limbo: A MemoirCharles Barber, Songs from the Black Chair: A Memoir of Mental InteriorsJill Bialosky, History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished LifeKaren Brennan, Being with Rachel: A Story of Memory and SurvivalHarold Brodkey, This Wild Darkness: The Story of My DeathAnatole Broyard, Intoxicated by My IllnessSusannah Cahalan, Brain on Fire: My Month of MadnessSusan Cheever, Note Found in a BottleEileen Cronin, Mermaid: A Memoir of ResilienceLinda Katherine Cutting, Memory SlipsMeri Nana-Ama Danquah, Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey through DepressionJoan Didion, The Year of Magical ThinkingMark Doty, Heaven’s CoastAndre Dubus, Broken Vessels; Meditations from a Moving ChairHope Edelman, Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of LossRichard Farrell, What's Left Of UsDeanna Fei, Girl in Glass: Dispatches from the Edge of LifeMary Felstiner, Out of Joint: A Private and Public Story of ArthritisKenny Fries, Body, RememberBarbara Gordon, I’m Dancing as Fast as I CanEmily Fox Gordon, The Mockingbird Years: A Life in and Out of TherapyTemple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with AutismLucy Grealy, Autobiography of a FaceJohn Howard Griffin, Scattered Shadows: A Memoir of Blindness and VisionSusan Gubar, Memoir of a Debulked Woman: Enduring Ovarian CancerEvan Handler, Time on Fire: My Comedy of TerrorsAnn Hood, Do Not Go Gentle: The Search for Miracles in a Cynical TimeMarya Hornbacher, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and BulimiaSonya Huber, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other essays from a nervous systemPortia Iverson, Strange Son: Two Mothers, Two Sons, and the Quest to Unlock the Hidden World of AutismKay Jamison, An Unquiet MindTerri Jentz, Strange Piece of ParadiseFenton Johnson, Geography of the HeartPaul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes AirRoger Kamenetz, Terra InfirmaSusanna Kaysen, Girl, InterruptedJamaica Kincaid, My BrotherNatalie Kusz, Road SongStephen Kuusisto, Planet of the BlindMindy Lewis, Life InsideJoselin Linder, The Family Gene: A Mission to Turn my Deadly Inheritance into a Hopeful FutureAudre Lorde, The Cancer JournalNancy Mairs, Carnal Acts; Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the NondisabledCandia McWilliam: What to Look for in WinterPaul Monette, Borrowed Time: An AIDS MemoirWilliam Cope Moyers, Broken: My Story of Addiction and RedemptionDonald M. Murray, The Lively Shadow: Living with the Death of a ChildChristopher Noel, In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing: A Geography of GriefGary Presley, Seven Wheelchairs: A Life Beyond PolioReynolds Price, A Whole New LifeAlice Sebold, LuckyAllen Shawn, Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic LifeDavid Sheff, Beautiful BoyJay and Sue Shotel, It’s Good to Know a Miracle: Dani’s Story, One Family’s Struggle with LeukemiaSue William Silverman, Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey Through Sexual AddictionFloyd Skloot, In the Shadow of MemoryClaire Bidwell Smith, The Rules of InheritanceSusan Sontag, Illness as MetaphorPatricia Stacey, The Boy Who Loved WindowsJessica Stern, Denial: A Memoir of TerrorDarin Strauss, Half a LifeMary Swander, Out of This World: A Journey of Healing Jill Talbot, Loaded: Women and AddictionDaniel Tammet, Born on a Blue Day Melanie Thernstrom, The Dead GirlMark Vonnegut, The Eden Express: A Memoir of InsanityDarcy Wakefield, I Remember Running: The Year I Got Everything I Wanted—and ALSJoan Wickersham, The Suicide IndexElizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation

Family, Relationships, Friendships, Identity

A. J. Albany, Low Down: junk, jazz, and other fairy tales from childhoodSherman Alexie, You Don't Have to Say You Love MeSusanne Antonetta, Make Me a MotherPaul Auster, The Invention of SolitudePeter Balakian, Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian PastAmy Benson, The Sparkling-Eyed Boy: A Memoir of Love, Grown UpJane Bernstein, Loving Rachel: A Family's Journey from GriefSupriya Bhatnagar, and then there were three...Bonnie Lee Black, Somewhere ChildMary Clearman Blew, All But the Waltz: Five Generations in the Life of a Montana FamilyGreg Bottoms, Angelhead: My Brother’s Descent into MadnessRick Bragg, All Over but the Shoutin'; Prince of FrogtownJohn Burnside, A Lie About My FatherMary Cappello, Night Bloom; Awkward: A DetourJoy Castro, The Truth Book: Escaping a Childhood of Abuse Among Jehovah's WitnessesSusan Cheever, Home Before DarkKelly Cherry, The Exiled Heart: A Meditative AutobiographyKerry Cohen, Loose Girl, A Memoir of PromiscuityJoan Connor, The World Before MirrorsBernard Cooper, The Bill From My Father; Truth SerumFrancine Cournos, City of OneLaura Cunningham, Sleeping ArrangementsJohn Daniel, Looking After: A Son’s MemoirPatty Dann, The Baby Boat: A Memoir of AdoptionRenee E. D'Aoust, Body of a DancerCathy Day, Comeback SeasonClaire Dederer, Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga PosesRobb Forman Dew, The Family Heart: A Memoir of When Our Son Came OutDebra Dickerson, An American StoryJohn Dickerson, On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News’ First Woman StarFrancine du Plessix Gray, Them: A Memoir of ParentsTony Earley, Somehow Form a Family: Stories That are Mostly TrueDave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering GeniusNora Eisenberg, The War at HomeSuzanne Finnamore, Split: A Memoir of DivorceKathleen Finneran, The Tender LandNick Flynn, Another Bullshit Night in Suck CityPatricia Foster, All the Lost Girls: Confessions of a Southern DaughterConnie May Fowler, When Katie WakesPaula Fox, Borrowed FineryMartha Frankel, Hats & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with GamblingDorothy Gallagher, How I Came into My InheritanceAlison Singh Gee, Where the Peacocks Sing: A Prince, a Palace and the Search for HomeGail Hosking Gilberg, Snake’s Daughter: The Roads In and Out of WarRigoberto Gonzalez, Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano MariposaMary Gordon, The Shadow Man: A Daughter’s Search for her FatherVivian Gornick, Fierce AttachmentsJon-Jon Goulian, The Man in the Gray Flannel SkirtKelle Groom, I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a GirlDebra Gwartney, Live Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed LoveChristina Haag, Come To the Edge: A Love StoryJessica Handler, Invisible SistersKathryn Harrison, The KissMelissa Hart, Gringa: A Contradictory GirlhoodCarol Hebald, The Heart Too Long SuppressedMichael Hemery, No Permanent ScarsMichelle Herman, The Middle of Everything: Memoirs of MotherhoodAdam Hochschild, Half the Way Home: A Memoir of Father and SonRichard Hoffman, Half the HouseSonya Huber, Opa NobodySusan Jacoby, Half-JewBrian Jennings, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son: Growing up, Coming Out, and Changing AmericaDeborah Jiang-Stein, Prison BabyKaylie Jones, Lies My Mother Never Told MeDiana Joseph, I'm Sorry You Feel that Way: the astonishing but true story of a daughter, sister, slut...Dinah Lenney, Bigger Than Life: A Murder, A MemoirAaron Raz Link & Hilda Raz, What Becomes YouSonja Livingston, Ghostbread; Queen of the Fall: A Memoir of Girls and GoddessesBret Lott, Fathers, Sons, Brothers: The Men in My FamilyLee Martin, From Our HouseJames McBride, The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to his White MotherNathan McCall, Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in AmericaRebecca McClanahan, The Riddle Song and Other RememberingsKaren McElmurray, Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother’s JourneyValerie Miner, The Low Road: A Scottish Family MemoirSharona Ben-Tov Muir, Tracing the Secrets of My Father’s LivesLiz Murray, Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to HarvardMichael Ondaatje, Running in the FamilyWendy Ortiz, ExcavationChrista Parravani, HerAnn Patchett, Truth and Beauty Molly Peacock, Paradise, Piece by Piece Emily Raboteau, Searching for Zion: The Quest for Home in the African DiasporaElizabeth Scarboro, My Foreign CitiesBrandon R. Schrand, The Enders HotelSandra Scofield, Occasions of SinDanzy Senna, Where Did You Sleep Last Night?: A Personal HistoryDani Shapiro, Slow MotionSue William Silverman, The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon JewDarin Strauss, Half a LifeIra Sukrungruang, Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist BoyDeborah Tall, A Family of StrangersDanielle Trussoni, Falling Through the EarthKate St. Vincent Vogl, Lost and Found: A Memoir of MothersKate Walter, Looking for a Kiss: A Chronicle of Downtown Heartbreak and HealingBruce Weigl, The Circle of HanhJohn Edgar Wideman, Brothers and Keepers Gregory Williams, Life on the Color Line:The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was BlackSean Wilsey, Oh the Glory of it All Edwin John Wintle, Breakfast With Tiffany: An Uncle’s MemoirGeoffrey Wolff, The Duke of Deception: Memories of My FatherTobias Wolff, This Boy’s LifeLidia Yuknavitch, The Chronology of Water Mort Zachter, Dough

Childhood and Coming of Age

Marvin V. Arnett, Pieces from Life’s Crazy QuiltJulene Bair, One Degree West: Reflections of a PlainsdaughterJo Ann Beard, The Boys of My YouthDavid Carkeet, Campus Sexpot: A MemoirJerome Charyn, The Dark Lady of BelorusseJ. M. Coetzee, BoyhoodJudith Ortiz Cofer, Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican ChildhoodFrank Conroy, Stop-TimeAndre Dubus III, TownieFaith Edise, Nina Sichel, Eds., Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up GlobalJames Ellroy, My Dark PlacesLucy Ferriss, Unveiling the Prophet: The Misadventures of a Reluctant DebutanteAlexandra Fuller: Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African ChildhoodHelena Ganor, Four Letters to the Witnesses of My Childhood: One Woman’s Childhood in Nazi OccupationHenry Louis Gates, Colored People Patricia Hampl, A Romantic EducationHeidi Hart, Grace Notes: The Waking of a Woman’s VoiceEva Hoffman, Lost in TranslationJune Jordan, Soldier: A Poet’s ChildhoodLisa Knopp, Flight Dreams: A Life in the Midwestern LandscapeJennifer Lauck, Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and FoundAudre Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of my NameDebra Marquart, Growing up Wild in the Middle of NowhereMary McCarthy, Memories of a Catholic GirlhoodFrank McCourt, Angela’s AshesPaul Monette, Becoming a Man: Half a Life StoryVladimir Nabokov, Speak MemoryBich Minh Nguyen, Stealing Buddha’s DinnerElaine Orr, Gods of Noonday: A White Girl's African LifeGayle Pemberton, The Hottest Water in Chicago: Notes of a Native DaughterNahid Rachlin, Persian GirlsAlberto Rios, Capirotadas: A Nogales Memoir Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard RodriguezMoses Rosenkranz, Childhood: An Autobiographical FragmentEsmeralda Santiago, When I Was Puerto RicanLynne Sharon Schwartz, Ruined by Reading: A Life in BooksBrenda Serotte, The Fortune Teller’s KissSue William Silverman, Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember YouKate Simon, Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a ChildhoodJohn Skoyles, Secret Frequencies: A New York EducationLori Soderlind, Chasing Montana: A Love StoryIlan Stavans, On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of LanguageRyan Van Meter, If You Knew Then What I Know NowRichard Wright, Black Boy

Place, Nature, Science, Travel

Edward Abbey, Desert SolitaireDiane Ackerman, A Natural History of the SensesSusanne Antonetta, Body Toxic; A Mind ApartKim Barnes, Hungry for the WorldRick Bass, WinterCharles Bergman, Red Delta: Fighting for Life at the End of the Colorado RiverWendell Berry, Recollected Essays, 1965-1980Bonnie Lee Black, How to Cook a CrocodileJennifer Brice, The Last SettlersJane Brox, Here and Nowhere Else: Late Seasons of a Farm and its FamilyJoanna Burger, The Parrot Who Owns MeFranklin Burroughs, Billy Watson’s Croker SackSteven Callahan, Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at SeaKurt Caswell, In the Sun's HouseBruce Chatwin, In PatagoniaAllison Adelle Hedge Coke, Rock, Ghost, Willow, Deer: A Story of SurvivalChristopher Cokinos, The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting StarsJerry Dennis, Windward Shore: A Winter on the Great Lakes; A Place on the Water: An Angler’s Reflections on HomeSonali Deraniyagala, WaveAnnie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: Teaching a Stone to TalkIvan Doig, This House of SkyAriel Dorfman, Heading South, Looking NorthDavid James Duncan, My Story as Told by Water: Confessions, Druidic Rants, Reflections, Bird-Watchings…Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open SpaceJ. H. Fabre, Social Life in the Insect WorldJill Fredston, Roving to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s EdgeJames Galvin, The MeadowMerrill Joan Gerber, Botticelli Blue Skies: An Amearican in Florence David Gessner, Sick of NaturePhilip Graham, The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from LisbonEdward Hoagland, The Courage of TurtlesMarybeth Holleman, The Heart of the Sound: An Alaskan Paradise Found and Nearly LostGarrett Hongo, Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai’iMarcy Houle, Prairie KeepersSilas House & Jason Howard, Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop RemovalBarbara Hurd, Entering the Stones: On Caves and Feeling Through the DarkKathleen Jamie, Findings: Essays on the Natural and Unnatural WorldTheresa Jordan, Riding the White Horse Home: A Western Family AlbumBarbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food LifeWilliam Kittredge, Hole in the SkyVerlyn Klinkenborg, The Last Fine TimeTed Kooser, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian AlpsDavid Lazar, The Body of BrooklynAmy Leach, Things That AreWilliam Least Heat Moon, Blue HighwaysGretchen Legler, On the Ice: An Intimate Portrait of Life at McMurdo Station, AntarcticaBarry Lopez, Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in Northern LandscapeNancy Lord, Beluga DaysRobert MacFarlane, The Old Ways: A Journey on FootNorman MacLean, A River Runs Through ItGregory Martin, Mountain CityMichael Martone, The Flatness and Other LandscapesPeter Mayle, A Year in ProvenceKate McCahill, Patagonia Road: A Year Alone through Latin AmericaThomas McGuane, The Longest Silence: A Life in FishingJohn McPhee, Coming into the CountryThomas Merton, When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings in NatureKent Meyers, The Witness of CombinesHarry Middleton, The Earth is EnoughLawrence Millman, Our Like Will Not Be There Again: Notes from the West of IrelandKathleen Dean Moore, Riverwalking: Reflections on Moving WaterMichele Morano, Grammar Lessons: Translating a Life in SpainSusan Brind Morrow, The Names of ThingsSiddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Christopher Norment, Return to Warden's Grove: Science, Desire, and the Lives of SparrowsKathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual GeographyLeila Philip, A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One FamilyMartin Prechtel, Secrets of the Talking Jaguar: Memoirs from the Living Heart of a Mayan VillageJohn Price, Man Killed by Pheasant: And Other KinshipsJonathan Raban, Bad LandCatherine Reid, Coyote: Seeking the Hunter in our MidstRobert Reid, Arctic Circle: Birth & Rebirth in the Land of CaribouBill Roorbach, Temple Stream: A Rural OdysseyDana Sachs, The House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman in VietnamAlix Kates Shulman, Drinking the RainMark Spragg, When the River Changes DirectionRobert Stepto, Blue as the Lake: A Personal GeographyCheryl Strayed, WildJoni Tevis, The Wet CollectionCelia Thaxter, An Island GardenPaul Theroux, Old Patagonian ExpressJim Toner, SerendibRobert Traver, Trout MadnessD. J. Waldie, Holy Land: A Suburban MemoirSharon White, Vanished Gardens: Finding Nature in PhiladelphiaJoy Williams, Ill NatureTerry Tempest Williams, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and PlaceCharles Wohlforth, The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate ChangeBaron Wormser, The Road Washes Out in SpringPaul Zimmer, After the Fire: A Writer Finds His Place

Faith Adiele, Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist NunRicardo Ainslie, Long Dark Road (about the James Byrd racially inspired murder)Steve Almond, Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of AmericaMark Curtis Anderson, Jesus Sound ExplosionVictoria Armour-Hileman, Singing to the Dead: A Missioner’s Life Among Refugees from BurmaBill Ayers, Fugitive DaysRoland Barthes, Camera LucidaIshmael Beah, A Long Way GoneSamira Bellil (trans. Lucy R. McNair), To Hell and BackWalter Benjamin, The Arcades ProjectJohn Berger, And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos Ilana M. Blumberg, Houses of Study: A Jewish Woman Among BooksBarrie Jean Borich, My Lesbian Husband: Landscapes of a MarriageLady Borton, Sensing the Enemy: An American Woman Among the Boat People of VietnamCharles Bowden, Down by the River: Drugs, Money, Murder, and FamilyC.D.B. Bryan, Friendly FireScott Cairns, Short Trip to the Edge: A Spiritual Memoir Truman Capote, In Cold BloodJung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of ChinaSteven Church, The Day After 'The Day After': My Atomic AngstDalton Conley, HonkyRosemary Daniell, Confessions of a (Female) ChauvinistTracy Daugherty, Five Shades of ShadowJoan Didion, Slouching Toward BethlehemBeverly Donofrio, Looking for Mary (Or, The Blessed Mother and Me)Brian Doyle, The Wet Engine: Exporing the Mad Wild Miracle of the HeartGeoff Dyer, Yoga for People Who Can't be Bothered to Do ItBarbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in AmericaGretel Ehrlich, Questions of Heaven: The Chinese Journey of an American BuddhistSarah Einstein, Mot: A MemoirJanet Mason Ellerby, Following the Tambourine Man: A Birthmother’s MemoirEduardo Galeano, Soccer in Sun and ShadowWilliam Gass, On Being Blue: A Philosophical InquiryMikal Gilmore, Shot in the HeartMelissa Fay Greene, Praying for SheetrockDavid Griffith, A Good War is Hard to Find: The Art of Violence in AmericaLee Gutkind: Almost Human: Making Robots ThinkSebastian Haffner, Defying HitlerJim Harrison, Off to the SideMiles Harvey, The Island of Lost Maps: a true story of cartographic crimeTom Hayden, Irish on the Inside: In Search of the Soul of Irish America Ernestine Hayes, Blonde IndianRobin Hemley, Invented Eden: The Elusive, Disputed History of the Tasaday; Do-Over!John Hersey, HiroshimaAdam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost: Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial AfricaAmy Hoffman, An Army of Ex-Lovers: My Life at the Gay Community NewsEva Hoffman, After Such Knowledge: Memory, History, and the Legacy of the HolocaustSamuel Hynes, Flights of Passage: The Soldiers’ TaleKristen Iversen, Full Body Burden: Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky FlatsJoyce Johnson, Minor Characters: A Beat MemoirSebastian Junger, A Perfect StormRobbie Pfeufer Kahn, Milk Teeth: A Memoir of a Woman and her DogGarrison Keillor, Homegrown DemocratThomas Keneally, Schindler’s ListTracy Kidder, Among Schoolchildren and HouseWoody Kipp, Viet Cong at Wounded Knee: The Trial of a Blackfeet ActivistArthur Kopecky, New Buffalo: Journals of a Taos CommuneJon Krakauer, Into Thin AirKazuko Kuramoto, Manchurian Legacy: Memoirs of a Japanese ColonialistAnne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on FaithBernard Lefkowitz, Our BoysBeverly Lowry, Crossed OverHoward Lyman, Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat MeatJoe Mackall, Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the AmishNorman Mailer, The Executioner’s SongNancy Mairs, Ordinary Time: Cycles in Marriage, Faith, and Renewal Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to FreedomGabriel García Márquez, News of a KidnappingPeter Matthiessen, The Snow LeopardSarah Maza, Violette Noziere: a Story of Murder in 1930s Paris Joseph Mitchell, Joe Gould's SecretPablo Neruda, MemoirsKathleen Norris, The Cloister WalkDan O’Brien, Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills RanchTillie Olsen, SilencesMary Rose O’Reilley, Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist ShepherdSusan Orlean, The Orchid ThiefAmos Oz, A Tale of Love and DarknessElena Passarello, Let Me Clear My Throat Caryl Phillips, The Atlantic SoundWang Ping, Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in ChinaJeff Porter, Oppenheimer Is Watching MeRoberta Price, Huerfano: A Memoir of Life in the CountercultureFrancine Prose, Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the AfterlifeSlavomir Rawicz, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to FreedomIshmael Reed, Blues City: A Walk in OaklandCheri Register, Packinghouse Daughter: A Memoir Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic BombRahna Rizzuto, Hiroshima in the MorningMary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human CadaversClaudia Rowe, The Spider and the Fly: A Writer, a Murderer and a story of ObsessionMimi Schwartz, Good Neighbors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father’s German VillageBob Shacochis, The Immaculate InvasionJeff Sharlet, Sweet Heaven When I DieSusan Sheehan, Is There No Place on Earth for Me?Fan Shen, Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red GuardRandy Shilts, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS EpidemicNatalia Rachel Singer, Scraping by in the Big EightiesEugene Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and OkinawaSusan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of OthersJohn Sorenson, Ed., The Grace Abbott ReaderMaureen Stanton, Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-Market AmericaBrent Staples, Parallel Times: Growing Up in Black and WhiteLeny Mendoza Strobel, A Book of Her Own: Words and Images to Honor the BabylanMary Swander, The Desert Pilgrim: En Route to Mysticism and MiraclesAnthony Swofford, Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles Studs Terkel, WorkingHunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las VegasJoyce Thompson, Sailing the Shoe to Timbuktu: A Woman’s Adventurous Search for Family, Spirituality, & LoveSusan Tiberghien, Circling to the Center: One Woman’s Encounter with Silent PrayerLaura Tillman, The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts: Murder and Memory in an American CityJacobo Timerman, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a NumberPatricia Vidgerman, The Memory Palace of Isabella Stewart GardnerElie Wiesel, NightTom Wolfe, The Right Stuff; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Experimental, Montage, Meditative, Lyric, Hybrid Forms

David B., EpilepticRoland Barthes, A Lover’s DiscourseAlison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family TragiccomicSven Birkerts, My Sky Blue Trades: Growing Up Counter in a Contrary TimeEula Biss, The BalloonistsJenny Boully, The Body: An EssayItalo Calvino, The Road to San GiovanniElias Canetti, The Agony of Files: Notes and NotationsE. M. Cioran, All Gall is Divided: AphorismsInga Clendinnen, Tiger’s EyeRichard Cohen, Sweet and LowDennis and Vicki Covington, Cleaving: The Story of a MarriageJohn D’Agata, Halls of FameSeamus Deane, Reading in the DarkIvan Doig, Heart EarthHarrison Candelaria Fletcher, Descanso for My Father: Fragments of a LifeEduardo Galeano, The Book of EmbracesAlbert Goldbarth, GriffinCarla Harryman, Adorno’s NoiseRobin Hemley, Nola: A Memoir of Faith, Art, and Madness Maxine Hong Kingston, Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among GhostsBrian Lennon, City: An EssayPrimo Levi, The Periodic TableDaniel Mendelsohn, The Lost: A Search for Six of Six MillionAnder Monson, Neck Deep and Other PredicamentsDinty Moore, Between Panic and Desire: Notes from a Series ProjectionistPat Mora, House of HousesDonald Morrill, The Untouched MinutesMaggie Nelson, BluetsTim O’Brien, The Things They CarriedAnna Cypra Oliver, Assembling My Father: A Daughter’s Detective StoryMichelle Otero, Malinche's DaughterGeorges Perec, W: Or the Memory of ChildhoodKristin Prevallet, I, Afterlife: Essay in Mourning TimeLia Purpura, On LookingJames Richardson, Vectors: Aphorisms and Ten-Second EssaysRichard Rodriguez, Days of Obligation Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood; EmbroideriesW. G. Sebald, The Emigrants; The Rings of SaturnBob Shacochis, Domesticity: A Gastronomic Interpretation of LoveDavid Shields, Enough About You: Adventures in AutobiographyPeggy Shumaker, Just Breathe NormallyArt Spiegelman, Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History and Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles BeganLawrence Sutin, A Postcard MemoirNatasha Tarpley, Girl in the Mirror: Three Generations of Black Women in MotionPeter Trachtenberg, 7 Tattoos: A Memoir in the FleshJulie Marie Wade, Wish Bone: A Memoir in FracturesXu Xi, Overleaf Hong Kong: Stories & Essays of the Chinese, Overseas

Personal Essay, Journal, Anthologies

Faith Adiele, Coming of Age Around the WorldJames Baldwin, Notes of a Native SonJill Bialofsky and Helen Schulman, eds., Wanting a ChildBecky Bradway, ed., In the Middle of the Middle West: Literary Nonfiction from the HeartlandJanet Burroway, Embalming Mom: Essays in LifeJoshua Casteel, Letters from Abu GhraibJoy Castro, Island of BonesBernard Cooper, Maps to AnywhereJohn D’Agata, ed., The Next American Essay Charles D’Ambrosio, OrphansToi Dericotte, The Black Notesbooks: An Interior JourneyMark Doty, ed., Open House: Writers Redefine HomeBrian Doyle, LeapingIsabelle Eberhardt, The Nomad: Diaries of Isabelle EberhardtM.F.K. Fisher, Among FriendsPatricia Foster, Just Beneath My Skin: Autobiography & Self-DiscoveryDaniel Francis, ed., Imagining Ourselves: Classics of Canadian Non-FictionAnne Frank, The Diary of Anne FrankIan Frazier, On the Rez; Gone to New York: Adventures in the CityKenny Fries (ed.), Staring Back: The Disability Experience from the Inside OutAlbert Goldbarth, Many CirclesVivian Gornick, Approaching Eye LevelLee Gutkind, Karen Wolk Feinstein, eds., Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving LivesTrudier Harris, Summer Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the SouthSteve Harvey, Bound for Shady GroveLillian Hellman, PentimentoEmily Hiestand, Angela the Upside-down Girl & Other Domestic TravelsPico Iyer, Falling off the MapLeslie Jamison, The Empathy ExamsGenevieve Jurgensen, The Disappearance: A Primer of LossJudith Kitchen, Distance and Direction; Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary NonfictionCarl H. Klaus, My Vegetable Love: A Journal of a Growing SeasonTed Kooser, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian AlpsKim Dana Kupperman, I Just Lately Started Buying Wings: Missives from the Other Side of SilenceDavid Lazar, The Body of Brooklyn; Occasional DesirePhillip Lopate, Against Joie de Vivre; Portrait of My BodyJohn Loughery, ed., The Eloquent Essay: An Anthology of Classic and Creative NonfictionPatrick Madden, QuotidianaRasunah Marsden, Crisp Blue Edges: Indigenous Creative Non-fictionMichael Martone, Racing in Place: Collages, Fragments, Postcards, RuinsJames McKean, Home StandJames Alan McPherson, A Region Not Home: Reflections from ExileMolly McQuade, The Art of the WordBrenda Miller, Season of the BodyTom Montgomery-Fate, Beyond the White NoiseKyoko Mori, Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between CulturesNaomi Shihab Nye, Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and PlacesCynthia Ozick, Fame & Folly, Quarrel & Quandry, and Metaphor & MemoryJericho Parms, Lost WaxMolly Peacock, ed., The Private I Lia Purpura, On Looking; Rough LikenessScott Russell Sanders, Staying Put; The Paradise of BombsMarjorie Sandor, The Night GardenerMay Sarton, Journal of a SolitudeMimi Schwartz, Thoughts from a Queen-Sized BedDavid Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One DayRebecca Shannonhouse, ed., Under the Influence: The Literature of Addiction David Shields, Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of CelebrityFloyd Skloot, A World of LightTom Sleigh, Interview With a GhostLarry Smith, ed., Not Quite What I Was Planning: six-word memoirs by writers famous and obscureIlan Stavans, Dictionary Days: A Defining PassionGerald Stern, What I Can’t Bear Losing Megan Stielstra, Once I was Cool: Personal EssaysIra Sukrungruang, Scoot Over Skinny: The Fat Nonfiction AnthologyAbigail Thomas, Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a LifeAnne Truitt, Prospect: The Journal of an ArtistRobert Vivian, Cold Snap as Yearning Lawrence Weschler, Vermeer in BosniaE. B. White, One Man’s MeatEdmund White, My LivesS. L. Wisenberg, Holocaust Girls: History, Memory & Other ObsessionsVirginia Woolf, Moments of Being; The Death of the Moth and Other EssaysXu Xi, Evanescent Isles: From My City-Village

Humor

Stephen Akey, College Max Apple, Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story; I Love Gootie: My Grandmother’s StoryRobert Benchley, Benchley Beside HimselfBill Bryson, Life and Times of the Thunderbolt KidDinty Moore, The Accidental BuddhistS. J. Perelman, Most of the Most of S. J. PerelmanDaniel Asa Rose, Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life David Sedaris, Naked; When You are Engulfed in FlamesJames Thurber, My Life and Hard TimesRachel Toor, The Pig and I: How I Learned to Love Men Almost as Much as I Love My Pets

Occupational Memoirs

Sylvia Ashton-Warner, TeacherGesine Bullock-Prado, Confections of a Closet Master BakerLewis Buzbee, The Yellow-Lighted BookshopKelly Cherry, Girl in a Library: On Women Writers and the Writing LifeTed Conover, Newjack: Guarding Sing-SingPat Conroy, The Water is WideRobert Cowser, Dream Season: A Professor Joins America’s Oldest Semi-Pro Football TeamHuston Diehl, Dream Not of Other Worlds: Teaching in a Segregated Elementary School, 1970Atul Gawande, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on An Imperfect Science; Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on PerformanceGail Griffin, Calling: Essays on Teaching in the Mother TongueBrendan Halpin, Losing My Faculties: A Teacher’s StoryBen Hamper, RivetheadJean Harper, Rose City: A Memoir of WorkThomas Lynch, The Undertaking:Life Studies from the Dismal Trades Frank McCourt, Teacher ManAnn McCutchan, The Muse that Sings: Composers Speak about the Creative ProcessSusan Neville, Iconography: A Writer’s MeditationDon Metz, Confessions of a Country ArchitectDanielle Ofri, Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at BellevueLouise Rafkin, Other People’s Dirt: A Housecleaner’s Curious AdventuresRuth Reichl, Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the TableOliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatRichard Seltzer, Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery; Confessions of a KnifeFrank Vertosick, Why We Hurt; The Natural History of Pain

SUE'S BOOKS

MEMOIRS

The book describes Sue's search for authentic self-identity – a search complicated by her conflicted feelings toward Judaism and her various efforts to “pass” as Christian. At the heart of this journey are three separate encounters with 1960s pop-music icon, turned Christian activist, Pat Boone, who plays a pivotal role in Sue's desire to belong to the dominant culture.

"A deeply personal story of a woman's addiction to and recovery from the high of dangerous encounters. This utterly candid account is the only memoir by a woman to examine sexual addiction. It is a powerful, often lyrical book with strong resonance for other addictions, whether to food, drugs, alcohol, or work--for anyone whose only satisfaction is now." (Click on title, above, to read excerpt.)

CRAFT OF WRITING

This is a guidebook about how to craft compelling art out of personal experience. "Fearless Confessions" is for beginning and experienced writers alike, who want to write their own life stories. Please click title to see the Table of Contents.